Organize tackle trays by the fish you are going to catch next, not by the type of plastic they hold. The working rule is a reaching budget of fifteen seconds: anything touched more than six times in a session sits in the tray closest to the opening, and everything seasonal sits behind it or at home. Most anglers carry 9 to 14 kilograms of tackle and use roughly 20 percent of it on 80 percent of trips, which is why a four-tray core plus one rotating species tray beats eleven mixed trays every time. The twice-yearly seasonal swap takes about two hours and cuts retrieval time from around forty seconds to under fifteen.
Sorting by Species Beats Sorting by Type
Most trays are organized alphabetically or by lure category, and both fail for the same reason: they sort by what the object is rather than by when it gets used. A compartment labelled spinnerbait is useless on a day when the fish are eating topwater, and a compartment labelled small soft plastics is the one whose contents get tipped out onto the bank while looking for a specific colour. Sorting by target species puts every lure for one pattern in one tray, so the decision made at the water is which tray to open, not which of forty objects to find.
The measurable target is retrieval time. Time ten retrievals in a typical session and the number usually lands between thirty and forty-five seconds per item in a mixed tray, versus eight to fifteen seconds in a species tray holding twenty items. Over a six-hour session with sixty retrieve-and-change events, that difference is roughly thirty minutes of fishing time recovered, which is worth more to most anglers than any new lure.
| Sorting method | Typical retrieval time | Works well for | Fails when |
|---|---|---|---|
| By species and season | 8 to 15 seconds | Anglers fishing one clear pattern per trip | Multiple patterns in one session |
| By lure family | 25 to 40 seconds | Tackle sellers and cataloguers | Every actual fishing trip |
| By colour group | 20 to 35 seconds | Nothing in practice | Light changes and you need another colour |
| By size or weight alone | 15 to 25 seconds | Terminal tackle in small divided boxes | Applied to whole trays |
| By water depth the lure runs | 12 to 20 seconds | Vertical presentations and trolling | Bank fishing with mixed depths |
Tray Sizes: What Each One Is Actually For
Standardise on one tray height first. A tray that is forty-four millimetres deep takes almost everything that swims and stacks predictably; deeper sixty-millimetre boxes swallow volume but do not stack in the same sleeve, and a mixed set means a bag that never closes properly. The two common footprints are the 3600 size at roughly 273 by 184 millimetres, holding about 2.2 litres, and the 3700 size at roughly 355 by 229 millimetres, holding about 3.6 litres. One 3700 therefore carries close to 1.6 times what a 3600 carries, and costs about forty percent more.
The choice is rarely about capacity and almost always about access. A 3700 holds a season of one species in one box, which sounds efficient until it has to be pulled out of a bag on a jetty in wind with eighteen lures sliding to one end. Two 3600 trays holding twenty-two lures total are easier to handle and let one stay in the bag. Capacity planning for how many boxes fit a given backpack is worked through in the 3600 box capacity guide, and the structural differences between tray types are covered in the tackle tray type breakdown.
The Core Four and the Species Tray
The layout that holds up across most fisheries is four permanent trays plus one rotating species tray. Tray one is the session tray: twenty to twenty-five items for the pattern expected today, in the position closest to the opening. Tray two is terminal tackle, divided into eighteen compartments by size rather than type. Tray three is the targeting backup: heavier weights, bigger hooks, leader material. Tray four is tools, spare reel spool, line, and first aid, kept flat and light. The fifth slot rotates.
Rotating means physically swapping contents twice a year rather than carrying everything. A bass angler might run a spawning tray from March to May, a summer deep-water tray from June to August, and a reaction-bait tray from September to November, with each one rebuilt from stored stock in about twenty minutes. Total tackle in the bag drops from eleven trays worth to five, and loaded weight usually falls from around fourteen kilograms to nine or ten, which is felt in the lower back long before it is noticed in the shoulders.
| Slot | Contents | Approximate loaded weight | Change frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| One, session tray | 20 to 25 items for the expected pattern | 1.4 to 1.9 kg | Before every trip |
| Two, terminal tackle | Hooks, weights, swivels, snaps, beads | 0.8 to 1.2 kg | Topped up monthly |
| Three, backup and heavy | Heavy jigs, spare leaders, alternate weights | 1.2 to 1.6 kg | Seasonally |
| Four, tools and spares | Pliers, clippers, spare spool, line, tape | 0.9 to 1.3 kg | Rarely |
| Five, rotating species tray | 22 to 30 items for the current run | 1.5 to 2.2 kg | Twice yearly |
A Bass Allocation That Survives Contact With Fish
Bass anglers carry the widest variety of any freshwater group because the same water can demand a topwater at dawn, a worm at ten in the morning, and a jig at two in the afternoon. Sorting that into one tray per presentation works better than sorting by lure family, with one allowance: keep every soft plastic in one designated section because mixed soft plastics migrate and melt-bleed onto hard baits at temperatures above thirty degrees.
Weight discipline is what makes this layout viable. A 3700 tray filled with forty soft plastics and twenty hard baits weighs between two and two and a half kilograms, and lifting that out of a bag ten times a day is real work. Capping a single tray at thirty items keeps it under about 1.8 kilograms and keeps the bag under the ten kilogram comfort line for a full day walking.
| Bass pattern | Tray section | Typical item count | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topwater early | Section one | Four to six hard baits | Treble hooks need separate slots |
| Mid-day worm or finesse | Section two | Ten to twelve soft plastics plus terminal | Combine with two hook sizes |
| Afternoon jig and cover | Section three | Six to eight jigs plus trailers | Keep weights separate from hooks |
| Reaction and search | Section four | Four cranks or spinnerbaits | Hook guards stop tangling |
| Water-dependent spare | Section five | Six mixed | Refill from storage monthly |
Trout and Panfish: Terminal Tackle Dominates
Trout trays are inverted compared with bass trays: the lures are few and the terminal tackle is everything. A stream angler may carry three spinner patterns and fourteen sizes of split shot, so the tray the layout is therefore driven by terminal tackle rather than by lure count. A twenty-four-compartment small box with each weight size isolated is the single most valuable piece of organisation here, and it should be the tray nearest the opening rather than buried under lures.
Tippet and leader storage deserve their own note because they are the items most often ruined by poor organisation. Tippet spools should sit in a closed section away from hooks, since a stray hook point through a spool label makes the size unreadable and unreadable tippet line is useless. Dry fly boxes need to be sealed and dried before storage, since a fly left damp rusts its hook within seventy-two hours and stains the foam permanently.
Hook sizes pay to be written rather than inferred. Sizes 10 through 16 for trout occupy adjacent visual space and are easily mixed, so every compartment gets a label with both size and quantity. Reordering by counting the remainder takes ninety seconds and prevents the February discovery that a whole size ran out in September.
Saltwater: Inshore, Nearshore, and Offshore Sets
Saltwater organisation is driven by corrosion management as much as by retrieval speed, and the two sometimes conflict. Separating every lure by species is ideal but leaves hooks touching; separating everything into sealed individual sleeves is corrosion-proof but slow to work through. The compromise that most charter crews settle on is one tray in use, one tray as backup, and everything else rinsed, dried, and stored off the boat entirely.
That pattern also controls weight, which matters more afloat than ashore. A charter deck packed with eleven trays has no standing room and shifts in a swell; three properly chosen trays at six or seven kilograms total leave deck space and do not roll. For anyone moving between boat, kayak, and shore, the whole question of choosing trays versus a crate is compared in the crate versus tackle backpack comparison.
Labelling That Lasts More Than One Season
Labels fail in a bag for three reasons: humidity lifts adhesive, hook oil dissolves print, and rattling abrades edges. Addressing all three costs almost nothing. Write with a solvent-free marker on a polypropylene label, place it on the outside end of the tray rather than inside the lid, and cover it with a strip of clear packaging tape extending five millimetres beyond the label on all sides.
Content of the label matters as much as its construction. Include the target species, the season window in months, and the date last corrected. A tray marked Bass spawn Mar to May, checked 2026-03-11 tells the angler three things in one glance and tells the boat partner even more. Avoid writing prices or model numbers, which change and date badly; the useful categories are species, season, size range, and count.
The Weight Budget: Grams Per Tray
Nobody organises trays by weight until they have carried them for eight kilometres, and then nobody organises by anything else. Terminal tackle is the densest thing in the bag: lead at eleven grams per cubic centimetre means a compartment of twenty 14-gram weights adds nearly three hundred grams in a footprint smaller than a card. Put that near the bottom and against the back, or it will swing.
A useful target for a full-day carry is nine to eleven kilograms total including water, with the heaviest items below mid-height and within eighty millimetres of the wearer spine. Arrange by that rule and the bag carries like four kilograms less than the same contents randomly placed. The full packing order, including tray height position and strap adjustment, is set out in the tackle backpack packing guide.
| Content type | Typical loaded tray weight | Where in the bag | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal tackle, lead | 800 to 1,200 g | Lowest tray, against the back | Highest density, worst place to swing |
| Soft plastics | 900 to 1,400 g | Lower middle | Dense but soft, damps movement |
| Hard baits with trebles | 700 to 1,100 g | Upper middle | Frequent access, moderate weight |
| Tools and spare spool | 900 to 1,300 g | Top or side pocket | Often needed with the bag closed |
| Dry flies and tippet | 250 to 450 g | Top, most protected | Light and easily crushed |
Terminal Tackle by Size, Never by Colour
Terminal tackle is the one place where sorting strictly by attribute beats sorting by species, and the attribute is always size. Hooks run from size 16 to 9/0, weights from one sixty-fourth of an ounce to eight ounces, swivels by breaking strain in pounds. Colour tells nothing useful; a chartreuse and a black weight of the same size are interchangeable in almost every rig, while a quarter ounce and a half ounce are not.
Layout weight ascending from left to right in one divided box and it becomes possible to find any size by touch at dusk. Keep a ten-millimetre buffer of empty space at the end of each row so weights do not slide across, because once two sizes mix the whole box has to be emptied and re-sorted, which is twenty minutes nobody budgets for.
The Seasonal Swap in Two Hours
Twice a year, set aside two hours and rebuild rather than adjust. Empty every tray completely onto a bench, wipe each tray with a dry cloth, and check every hook point with a thumbnail: a hook that will not bite the nail goes in the sharpening pile. Then refill from bulk storage against a written list, re-label with the new season window and the date, and return the previous season tray to storage dry and open.
- Empty all five trays onto a flat surface grouped by species rather than mixing them together.
- Wipe trays dry and inspect dividers; a cracked divider lets two categories mix within one trip.
- Sharpen or replace hooks before restocking, since a dull hook is the most expensive item in the bag.
- Refill against a written list rather than by eye; the list is what makes next season repeatable.
- Weigh each tray and reorder their position in the bag heaviest first.
- Update labels with the season window and the date, then store the retired tray dry and unlatched.
| Season window | Core tray changes | Items removed to storage | Additions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early spring, spawning | Soft plastics and small jigs forward | Deep cranks and heavy weights | Finesse hooks, small guards |
| Summer, deep water | Weights forward, tungsten over lead | Topwater except two lures | Heavier jigs, longer leaders |
| Autumn, reaction | Search baits forward | Finesse gear | Spinnerbaits, mid cranks |
| Winter, slow presentation | Smallest terminal sizes forward | Anything above twenty-one grams | Ice or cold-water safety items |
Mistakes That Keep Coming Back
- Keeping wet lures in the tray after the trip, which rusts hooks in seventy-two hours and stains adjacent compartments permanently.
- Filling every slot to full, which forces anyone to tip the tray out to find anything and adds one to two kilograms for no benefit.
- Using adhesive labels on textured plastic, which lift within two months of humidity cycling.
- Mixing lead weights with soft plastics, since lead oxide dust transfers and hardens the plastic over a season.
- Carrying a full backup set every trip, adding three to five kilograms for gear used on perhaps two trips a year.
- Reorganising on the water rather than before leaving home; the tray rarely gets put back correctly in wind.
The common thread across all six is optimism about volume. Every one of these mistakes is an attempt to be ready for something that has roughly a two percent chance of happening on a given day, paid for with capacity, weight, and retrieval speed that apply on one hundred percent of days.
Specifying Organisation Into the Bag Itself
Some organisation problems cannot be solved by the angler because they are built in. A bag whose tray sleeve is sixty millimetres wider than a standard tray lets every tray slide sideways, which makes any layout impossible to hold. A sleeve exactly ten to fifteen millimetres wider than the tray, with a non-slip base panel, holds the arrangement through a full day of walking.
Two details pay for themselves repeatedly: an index sleeve for a label card on the front of the bag, so the contents of the bag can be identified without opening it, and a divider depth matching the tray rather than the bag, so a tray cannot be pushed past its stop. Both add under two dollars to a build and both get mentioned in reviews more often than any other feature.
Building the System Into a Programme
For anyone building a tackle range rather than filling one bag, tray organisation is a specifiable product property. State the tray standard the bag accepts, the sleeve tolerance in millimetres, whether dividers are removable, the label card position, and the printed instruction card that ships inside each bag. Those five lines turn an accessory into a system that customers can see working before they buy.
QUANZHOU JUNYUAN BAGS began building waterproof bag programmes in 2014, drawing on a founding team with sector experience stretching back to 2004. Verified monthly capacity of 200,000 units comes from SGS audits, while BSCI and ISO 9001 procedures cover daily workflow. REACH and California Prop 65 screening applies to all materials, and every bulk order clears an AQL 2.5 check. Tray plastic durability and drop behaviour can be specified against published methods from ASTM International.
A tray-compatible brief should open with standard and tolerance, because everything else follows from it. Add litres, box count, divider type, colour, and quantity. Orders open at 500 units per design and colour. Allow six to ten working days for samples and thirty-five to fifty days for bulk after sample approval and deposit, shipped FOB Xiamen or delivered duty paid across more than one hundred countries. Send the brief to service@junyuanbags.com. Seasonal water temperature data that drives the swap calendar is published by NOAA.
People Also Ask
How should tackle trays be organized?
By target species and season, not by lure type or colour. A species tray cuts retrieval from thirty to forty seconds down to eight to fifteen seconds, which recovers about thirty minutes per session.
How many trays should I carry in a tackle backpack?
Four core trays plus one rotating species tray. That drops carry weight from around fourteen kilograms to nine or ten while keeping every pattern covered.
What is the difference between a 3600 and a 3700 tray?
The 3600 is about 273 by 184 millimetres and holds 2.2 litres; the 3700 is about 355 by 229 millimetres and holds 3.6 litres, or 1.6 times as much for about forty percent more cost.
How often should I reorganise my tackle trays?
Twice a year, at the seasonal change, with a two-hour rebuild. Top up terminal tackle monthly and check the session tray before every trip.
Should terminal tackle be sorted by size or colour?
By size, always. A quarter ounce and a half ounce are not interchangeable, while two weights of different colours usually are.
What is the best way to label tackle trays?
Solvent-free marker on a polypropylene label on the tray end, covered with clear tape extending five millimetres beyond the edges, with species, season window, and check date.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is the best way to organize tackle boxes?
Organize by the fish expected on the trip, with one tray per pattern, then arrange those trays by access frequency. Sorting by lure family or colour is what causes forty-second retrieval times.
Q2. Should I sort tackle by species or by season?
Both, in that order: species decides what goes in each tray, and season decides which tray is in the bag now and which are at home.
Q3. How many trays fit in a standard tackle backpack?
Most 30 to 40 litre bags take four to six 3600 size trays, or three to four of the larger 3700 size. Check the sleeve tolerance before planning around a count.
Q4. What belongs in the tray nearest the opening?
Whatever is touched more than six times a session, usually terminal tackle or the expected pattern. Keep heavy lead low and against the back instead.
Q5. How much weight should a tackle tray hold?
Cap a single tray at about 1.8 kilograms, which is roughly thirty items, and keep the whole bag between nine and eleven kilograms including water.
Q6. Where do I put lead weights and terminal tackle?
In the lowest tray against the back. Lead is eleven grams per cubic centimetre, making it the densest content and the worst thing to let swing.
Q7. How do I stop soft plastics bleeding into hard baits?
Keep them in one dedicated section of one tray. At temperatures above thirty degrees the plasticiser migrates and marks hard bait finishes permanently.
Q8. What destroys tackle tray labels fastest?
Humidity lifting the adhesive, hook oil dissolving the print, and rattle abrasion. Tape over the label with a five millimetre margin on all four sides.
Q9. Should I take backups for everything on every trip?
No. Carrying a full backup set adds three to five kilograms for gear used on maybe two percent of trips. Keep one spare pattern, not a duplicate system.
Q10. How often should hooks be checked when reorganising?
Every seasonal swap, plus a thumbnail check each time a tray is refilled. A hook that will not bite the nail costs fish long before it looks damaged.
Q11. What tray size is best for saltwater?
Saltwater favours fewer, larger trays: two 3700 trays in rotation and the rest stored ashore, keeping the deck under about seven kilograms of tackle.
Q12. Can organization problems be designed out of the bag?
Yes. A sleeve ten to fifteen millimetres wider than the tray, a non-slip base panel, and a front index card sleeve each cost under two dollars and hold any layout in place.